


you're mine, now

by nonbinarywithaknife (littleboxes)



Series: me sobbing about critical role [13]
Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Best Friends, Breaking and Entering, Dragons, Families of Choice, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Fluffy Ending, Friendship, Gen, Hypothermia, Living Together, Male-Female Friendship, The Feywild (Implied), Wanderlust, Wilderness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-11
Updated: 2019-02-13
Packaged: 2019-10-26 01:14:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,798
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17736227
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/littleboxes/pseuds/nonbinarywithaknife
Summary: Veth finds a halfling freezing to death on the floor of the forest, and adds him to her hoard.Yeza wakes up in the claws of a green dragon bigger than his house, and decides things could be worse.





	1. halfling acquired

**Author's Note:**

> i've made another, slightly different dragon!nott au.   
> edited 4/26/19

It’s a normal winter day for Nott, as she prowls through the edges of her territory, eyes and nose primed to detect anything out of the ordinary. It’s been awhile since any of her brothers have tried to encroach, and she’s made a point to stalk the edges of her territory often to make sure they don’t try anything. They always get cocky after a few seasons, seemingly forgetting that she is just as grown and vicious as they are, if less able in the lying-and-manipulating-sentients department. An odd scent catches her attention, and she tilts her head in its direction before deciding to follow it.

Several minutes later, she sees the source of the new smell. It’s a tiny human, lying curled up on the forest floor. It’s shivering, and she’s pretty sure they aren’t supposed to be that color. She reaches out and prods it with a claw, and gets no reaction. It’s so _small_ , and as she gazes at it, her instincts rear up. _Mine, mine, hoard it, fix it, keep it, mine!_ Well. No reason not to, she thinks, and scoops up the tiny creature. She nestles it between one of her wings, and ambles off towards her lair. This is the first creature she’s added to her hoard, and she’d be lying if she wasn’t a little excited. So far, her lair was lined with layers and layers of shiny trinkets and baubles, and a healthy amount of coins.

She didn’t have any desire to be worshiped by a cult, or sung to by frightened bards like her brothers. But, she’d be lying if she didn’t admit that she was jealous of the creatures that resided in her brothers’ lairs. And now she had her own! Or at least, she would, if it didn’t freeze to death. She reaches her lair, and sets the shivering human on the pile of moss, fur, and bones that functions as her bed. She is very proud of it. She carefully curls around it, making sure to avoid crushing any of it’s squishy-looking limbs. She was no red dragon, but she knew she was warm. Well, now to wait and see if it wakes up.

* * *

 

Yeza’s surprised when he wakes up. The last thing he remembers is falling to the forest floor, unable to feel most of his limbs and cursing himself for his curiosity. He should’ve known better than to wander so far into the woods without any supplies, or even a compass! But he’d been so excited when he’d heard from a fellow alchemist that there was a grove of moon-eye flowers that hadn’t been pilfered through yet, and the petals had to be harvested under a full moon!

It takes him a moment to realize he can’t move. Seconds later, he realizes the sounds he’s been hearing aren’t the wind, but the breathing of an enormous creature. He tilts his head and cranes his neck to see that, above him, is the gently snoring snout of a fully grown green dragon. It’s claws are wrapped around him, and he knows that any movement will wake it. He tries to have his panic attack as quietly as possible. _A green dragon?! Of all the things- of course he’d manage to be picked up by a green dragon! Oh, gods, he wasn’t a bard, and he doesn’t have any impressive skills! He’s just an alchemist! Great, just great. Escape death by hypothermia and idiocy only to be clawed to death by a dragon. Great going, Yeza, you’ve managed to one-up your own rotten luck!_

He realizes too late that he’d muttered the last part of that out loud. The rhythmic breathing stops, and the large eye facing him opens. He stares, wide-eyed, as the beast stretches out, _yawns_ , and then- tilts its head at him?

“You’re awake,” it says, in a voice that is a strange mixture of screech and vibrato, and that sounds almost- excited? He can’t help but gape, as the dragon continues.

“I was worried you’d died. I know humans aren’t supposed to be out in the cold for so long, and you don’t have any fur or scales to keep you warm. And you’re so small, even the wyrmlings are bigger than you,” it- she pauses, he’s pretty sure it’s a female dragon, and the only thing that comes out of his mouth is, “I’m a halfling, actually,” because he is _an idiot, who is going to get eaten by a dragon because he can’t keep his mouth shut, oh gods_ \- and. The dragon doesn’t eat him. Instead, she blinks once, long and slow, and smiles? Her mouth does some vaguely reptilian facsimile of a smile, at least, and then she speaks again.

“Halfling,” she says, rolling the word around in her mouth, “Yes. I like it. What is your name, tiny halfling?”

Yeza is slowly realizing that, probably, he is not in immediate danger of death, and his muscles slowly start to relax. Granted, not all that much, because when the dragon speaks, he can catch glimpses of very long, sharp, teeth that are bigger than his entire body, but, still. “Um. Uh- Er, I’m Yeza. You?” And then he has to stop himself from facepalming because talking to a dragon bigger than his house like he would to the clerk at the general store is probably a very _bad_ idea, but again, the dragon surprises him by simply _hmmmm_ -ing in that strange voice. “I am Veth. What do you do, tiny Yeza? Can you sing? Fight?”

Ah, here comes the imminent death. Yeza can’t sing to save his life, and his fighting skills are worse than his singing. “I- um, well, no, I can’t sing, but I’m an alchemist?” His fear makes it sound like a question, but the dragon doesn’t seem to notice. “What is an alchemist?” Veth asks, and Yeza explains, slowly gaining confidence when she doesn’t seem to be getting ready to pounce any time soon. He finishes his explanation a little breathless- partly from the terror and partly from his love for the subject- and sits there awkwardly, waiting for a response. Veth flicks her tail and stares at him, her bright green eyes making him feel like she can see all the way inside his soul. “Yes. I like it. You are part of _my_ hoard, now. Stay here. I need to go hunting.” And with that, Veth gets up, and walks over towards where he can only assume is the entrance of the cave they’re in.

For a second, he imagines getting up and running away, trying to escape and find his way out of the woods. He discards the idea almost immediately. Not only does he have no idea where he is, but he doesn’t know how long Veth will be gone for, or how far away she is. She probably knows this wilderness far better than he does, and could probably track him down within days, and, on the off chance she lets him live, he doubts she’ll be as friendly. Not to mention he’s not exactly in tip-top shape, given he nearly froze to death- hours? Days? Ago. (He should probably figure out how long he was out for) No, much better to stay in the (admittedly, quite warm) dragon lair.

Speaking of, now that he’s no longer trapped underneath razor sharp claws, he starts to explore the cave. It’s large, larger than any building he’s ever been in. He can see smaller alcoves that branch off from the main room he’s in, but decides to refrain from entering them. Instead, he inspects the piles of stuff that are pushed up against the walls. Going to the pile nearest him, he’s surprised to find a wide variety of things.

There are the coins and gems he’d expect are typical of all dragon hoards, but there are also ribbons, and buttons, and the occasional doll- though those are almost entirely falling apart, and he makes sure to move them aside gently. He spends hours sifting through the stuff, until, later, he hears heavy footsteps approaching the cave. Veth enters, and lets out a huff when she sees him. “Good. I’m glad you didn’t run away. Oh! Do you like my hoard?”

He answers, of course, the only possible answer in this situation. “Of course! It’s very, unique. I, uh, would never have expected, uh, these,” he says, holding up one of the dolls. Veth is delighted with this, and proceeds to tell him the story behind every piece in her collection. It’s actually rather soothing, and he nearly falls asleep listening to her draconic voice carry on. He’s sure that he really shouldn’t be so calm, given he’s essentially been stolen by a dragon, but, well. It’s not as if he has anything in his life he’s terribly sad about losing. His parents had passed away peacefully in their sleep several years ago, and he’d never married. Perhaps it wouldn’t be so bad, living in a dragon’s lair, if only he could get his hands on some alchemy equipment…


	2. yeza gets a house, and they become Best Friends

It’s not until several weeks later, after growing into a fairly comfortable friendship with Veth, that he asks about alchemy equipment. He entertains her often by telling stories about the various mishaps he’d gotten himself into as a youth experimenting with chemicals, and when she’d asked, he started to recant the lessons from his apprenticeship. 

“What do you need?” she asks, and he rattles off a long list. She stares at him for a few seconds, before huffing. “I will  _ not  _ be able to remember all of that. We’ll simply have to go get them together.”

He freezes. There is no world in which him waltzing into town with a green dragon behind him to buy alchemical supplies will go well, and he tries to find a tactful way to explain this, when Veth lets out a screechy laugh. “Don’t worry. I have a plan,” she says, and suddenly her form begins to shrink. After a few seconds, in her place is a female halfling, slightly taller than him. This form has brown hair, pulled into braids, and green eyes that seem more inhuman the longer you look at them. It takes a second for him to register that she’s not wearing any clothes. He yelps, before pulling off his coat and thrusting it at her. “Here! You’ll have to get  _ some  _ clothes before we can just go walking into town.”

He searches through her hoard, eventually finding a shirt and a pair of pants that will work. He goes to hand them to her, but she shakes her head. “No, I will walk there as a dragon, it will be much quicker. I will carry you on my back, and I will change when we are close. Then we will get you your things.” 

“You know, we’ll need money to get the supplies,” he says, glancing toward the hoard. She huffs, and crosses her arms, glaring at him. “ _ Fine _ . How much?” 

He adds up the prices in his head, and scoops up the appropriate amount of gold. She glares even harder at him, but doesn’t argue. She shifts back into a dragon after dropping his coat, and leans down so he can climb onto her neck, arms full of clothes and the bag of coins. 

They arrive at the edge of town after several hours of travel. She stops far enough away that they won’t be noticed and shifts, then puts on the clothes. They walk into town, thankfully not garnering too much attention. Yeza knows where he needs to go to get what he needs, and thankfully, the trip proceeds with the only issue being Veth’s insatiable curiosity about everything. 

He does get a few weird looks just walking into the woods with his armfuls of alchemy components, but no one stops him. Soon enough, they’re back at the lair, and he’s staring up at the stone ceiling. Veth looks over at him, sensing the downturn in his mood. “Yeza? What’s wrong?”

“It’s just- Veth? Don’t you ever miss the sun? Of course, you know I love your lair, but, well, I grew up in Felderwin, I’m used to wide open spaces,” he says, “I don’t know, it’s silly.” 

His mood lifts soon enough, and he forgets the conversation in his rush to get a small alchemical lab set up in a stone alcove Veth cleared out for him. It’s not nearly as big as his old workshop, but it’s comforting all the same. Months pass, then a year, then two. He and Veth grow closer, and he reflects occasionally on how odd his life has gotten since he’d passed out on the floor of this forest two years ago. 

His birthday is coming up, and Veth is acting incredibly suspicious. At this point, he’s starting to suspect she’s doing it purely to catch his attention, because not even she is usually this obvious. Finally, the day dawns, and he is woken up with a sharp poke on his sternum. “Ow! Veth, what on earth-!” he pauses when he sees her practically wiggling with excitement. “Um- Veth? What-?” he’s interrupted by her impatient growl. “Come  _ on _ , Yeza! I want to give you your gift!” she says, and he rolls off his own pile of moss and fur (he’d declined the offer to add bones- they did not bring him the same level of comfort they did for Veth. She’d shook her head and called him odd, and that was that) with a groan and gets dressed. He turns back to her and she stares at his boots expectantly. “Are we- am I going to have to  _ walk _ , Veth? At this hour of the morning?” he says, not whines because he is a grown adult. She grins, showing off her sharp fangs. “Of course not! You will ride on my back, silly.” 

So Yeza dons his boots, not bothering with a coat because it’s the middle of summer. Veth lowers her back so he can climb on, and then they set out. Soft sunlight filters through the canopy, and the energy of the morning is serene as she lopes patiently through the woods. They’ve only been traveling for perhaps ten minutes when she stops. “We’re here! Close your eyes!” she says, and he complies, smiling. He hears some rustling, and then he is lifted down. “Okay, you can look now,” and he opens his eyes. In front of him is a small house, clearly built to house one. It’s made from the local trees, and he gapes at it, before looking back at Veth’s smirking face. “I- what-? Veth?” he says, speech lost to him for a moment. 

This sets off Veth rambling, “Well, I kept thinking about how, you know, you said you missed sunlight, and I know that humans have houses instead of lairs, and I decided that so long as you’re in my territory you’re in my hoard, so I built you a little house! I took a while to figure out how to make it so you don’t freeze, and there's no furniture ‘cause I don’t know what you like, but I even made a room for you to put your alchemy in!” and he suns forward to wrap his arms around a muscular leg, because this is the nicest thing anyone’s ever done for him, and he tries to stop himself from crying but can’t. 

He lets go after a moment, and walks inside. The ceilings are definitely higher than he needs, and some of the proportions are off, but overall it’s a sturdy structure that he  _ can’t wait _ to fill. The grounds surrounding the house are cleared out, and he can think of several low-light plants he could start growing, if he could get his hands on some seeds. He turns back to Veth, as she asks, “You like it, right? Now, you can have all the sunlight you need,” and this sets him off again, because  _ of course _ , Veth would remember some offhand remark he’d said in a fit of melancholy and build him a house! 

“I  _ love it _ , Veth. This- This is the  _ nicest _ thing anyone’s ever done for me! This is the best birthday, ever, Veth, thank you!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> veth loves her tiny halfling man so much and she tries so hard and yeza appreciates the fuck out of her


	3. yeza has some unexpected guests, and caleb has some concerns

He transfers his small alchemy lab to the house over the next week, and over the next few months, with the help of Veth, furnishes the interior so it’s livable. Years pass, and he gets to know the circle of land that Veth has claimed better. She teaches him about the forest, about what predators to look for and what plants he needs to watch out for. She also helps him acquire the seeds he’s looking for, after he gives her a description of the plants. It’s… the life he’d always dreamed of, really, if with a few additions he’d never dreamed of.

They spend a decade in this idyll, Veth hunting their dinner and Yeza growing herbs to add flavor. Occasionally, they take trips to the town, when he needs more glass bottles, or has a surplus of acid or potions to sell. The locals eventually get used to the strange pair that walk in and out of the woods- one with a coat full of potions and the other strangely feral, with unearthly green eyes and bare feet- and, unbeknownst to them, a little legend starts to form. Nothing big, yet, but whispers of the alchemist in the woods, with his forest spirit guide make their way into the ears of the town’s residents.

But of course, this peace is shattered eventually. Yeza is on his way back home from a long hike to acquire some of the very moon-eye flowers that had lead him here in the first place, when he hears voices. He can see his home from here, and it’s clear that he has intruders. He raises an eyebrow. Admittedly, this is the first time he’s ever had to deal with this problem, so he shrugs and walks in.

The group freezes when they see him, but he continues whistling quietly under his breath. He sets the moon-eyes on the counter, then turns to the rather colorful group standing awkwardly in his living room, arms folded. “Well, I certainly wasn't expecting visitors. I’m afraid I’m terribly under prepared. I hope you don’t mind the mess.” He can tell he’s shocked them, and when he turns his back to organize the plants he’s gathered, he can hear whispers start up. He decides not to listen in.

After ten minutes or so, he turns back and eyes the group. They’re colorful, alright. A half-orc, two tieflings, one a bright blue, the other lavender, and wearing quite a coat. A very tall woman who’s pale skin does not seem altogether human, and another tall being, this one furred, with a head of pink hair. And two humans, one of which seems to have been rolling around in dirt. “So,” he says, and they jump, “Care to tell me why you invaded my home?”

They glance at each other, and the half-orc speaks. “We’re terribly sorry about the intrusion, ah Mr-?” oh, he’s a smart one, “You may call me Yeza. You were saying?”

“Mr Yeza. We were hired by our employer to hunt down a creature- have you seen a displacer beast nearby? They kinda look like panthers, but with an extra set of legs and some tentacles hangin’ off their back- anyway we were hired to find this creature, and when we saw your house I admit, we were curious, as we’d heard, ah,” he rubs the back of his neck sheepishly, ”we’d heard some legends in the town out on the edge of the treeline; somethin’ about an alchemist and his, er, forest guide? And we were maybe wonderin’ if you could, ah, help us out a little bit?”

The rest of the group look at him hopefully, and he lets the smile he’s been holding back free. He chuckles a little too, once he realizes what the source of that legend probably is. “Ahhh, yes. I would be that mysterious potions brewer who lives in the woods, though my friend is no forest spirit, though I admit that’s a new one.” He cranes his head to check the sun’s position in the sky, “Hmm, I have a few hours before my friend is expecting me, sit down. Now, I have heard that there’s been something causing trouble to the south…”

* * *

 

Caleb breathes a sigh of relief when it becomes apparent the owner of the house they’d snooped through wasn’t going to attack them. He was curious, though. A halfling, by the looks of him. His home was small, but functional. Cozy, even. He’d noticed a small garden as well, and he could see what looked like an alchemy lab down the hall. What would drive a man to live in the middle of the wilderness like this? Well, granted, Caduceus had been similar, but he at least had been raised there, and had the graveyard to tend to, never mind the corruption. But this man? The house looked to have been built by hand.

They all managed to fit themselves around the table clearly meant for two of Yeza’s size, though it was not comfortable. He told them how his “friend” that he had yet to name had been experiencing some trouble towards the south, but that was all he knew about the beast. On the bright side, however, he was due to visit her soon, and they were welcome to come along. Caleb did not trust the sly look on Yeza’s face when he mentioned it, but they needed the information, and they all knew it. They’d been having no luck trying to track the creature by themselves.

“Oh, excuse my lack of manners! What are your names?” says their host, and they go around the circle.

“Well, I’m afraid my house simply isn’t big enough to host all of you comfortably, and I’m sure Veth wouldn’t mind if we were a bit early. If you’ll just give me a moment to put my herbs away, we’ll be off!” Yeza says, and ambles into the back room with his arms full of flowers.

“Are we really just gonna follow this guy to who knows where?” Beau says in her usual gruff tone, but Caleb agrees. He looks to Fjord.

“Well, it’s not like we’ve got any other leads. Plus, look at him. Guy’s as harmless as a fly and it’s seven against one,” Fjord says.

“I am also worried about this ‘friend’ we are meant to be meeting. The one who has apparently had run-ins with the displacer beast, and is still alive,” Caleb says, and a grim mood falls over the group. Yeza comes back out, and gestures for them all to follow him.

They walk for maybe twenty minutes, before Caleb starts to notice the terrain has changed. The forest floor seems more, depressed here. And there’s something else, but he can’t put his finger on it. Judging by the tense shoulders surrounding him, he’s not the only one to realize something’s off. Yeza, though, seems to be unperturbed, and is whistling a jaunty tune under his breath. Caleb can tell he’s travelled this path before, from the ease in his step.

In total, it’s about a half hour before they reach the entrance to an enormous cave. He jumps when Yeza yells out, “Veth! I’m here, and I’ve brought guests!” There’s a rustling sound that tickles the back of Caleb’s brain- it’s familiar, and he remembers where he’d last heard that noise just as “Veth” comes into view. It’s the sound of a dragon’s nail clicking on stone, and he shifts into a defensive posture as soon as the green dragon emerges from the shadows. “Yeza! Who’s this with you?” the dragon says, and he can hear the rest of the Nein pulling out their weapons.


	4. dinner and a realization

Oh, Yeza knows he shouldn’t find the scene playing out in front of him as funny as he does, but, well, he supposes that’s what he gets for spending the last decade alone in a forest with a dragon. It does things to your sense of humor. The group- the Mighty Nine, they said (odd, there’s only seven of them that he can see; an inside joke, maybe?) have pulled out their weapons, and Veth looks to Yeza with a dragon’s equivalent of a raised eyebrow. “Yeza? Why are your guests pointing weapons at me? Surely you haven’t tired of me yet?” she says, showing off her teeth more than explicitly necessary and not-so-subtly flexing her claws.

He shrugs, not bothering to keep the cheek-splitting grin off his face. “Oh, Veth, you know. I really do appreciate the years we’ve spent together, but,” he sighs dramatically, “Our time has come to an end. These noble heroes have come to gallantly rescue me from the clutches of a horrible dragon, and I’m afraid your days on this plane have come to an end,” he ends it with a dramatic flourish, and he’s wheezing a little at the _looks_ on their faces.

Veth lets loose with her shrieking laugh, and the group jumps, but they’ve loosed their grips on their weapons, if only from shock. The tall one, Caduceus, is looking at Veth with an interesting expression, and the rest of them just look befuddled and tense. “Well, come on then, dinner’s almost ready,” she says, and turns away from them, shifting as she goes. The light from her spell is especially bright in the dark of the cave, but soon enough she stands before them in her halfling form, smiling wickedly. Yeza tosses her his coat, mostly for the benefit of their guests- at this point, he’s well used to Veth’s antics.

They walk to her dining area, which is carved mostly from stone. It was Yeza’s idea, to create a halfling sized kitchen in her lair, so they could alternate whose home they dined at each day. Veth had loved the idea, and took to the project with vigor. As they all settle in, Veth appraises the group. “So, what are you all doing in my part of the forest?” A few of the group retroactively pale at the realization that they’d inadvertently wandered into a dragon’s territory, before the human woman, Beau, speaks up. “We’re hunting a displacer beast. Your friend said you’ve seen it?” He’s impressed that she still manages to sound so gruff.

Veth leans forward, now, “Ah, so you _are_ a group of adventurers, then. Interesting,” she tilts her head, “And you want to kill the creature that’s been encroaching on my forest. Hmmm,” she bites a violent chunk out of the hunk of deer meat she’d grabbed, making the group flinch, again.

She grins, blood dripping down her chin, “Yes. I will lead you to its den. You will kill it and bring me its head. I’d be careful, though. Its presence means there will be a rift nearby, that will call you to the Wild. I don’t recommend answering.” And with that dire warning, they begin to eat in earnest. Slowly, the group opens up, talking more not just about this job, but the other escapades they’ve gotten themselves into.

The more they talk, the brighter the light in Veth’s eyes becomes. Yeza recognizes that look- she’s taking a shine to them. She wants to _travel_ with them. He smiles softly, and makes eye contact with Caduceus across the table. The tall firbolg nods at him. Yeza nods back. He’s a perceptive one. Soon enough dinner is finished, and he leads the group over to a corner. “Well, if you want we can walk back to my home, but frankly it won’t be comfortable trying to fit you all in there. I usually stay here overnight, and I know Veth won’t mind sharing her bed.”

The purple tiefling, Molly, smiles. “Well, I for one, am down to sleep with the dragon! Beau? Fjord? Whattaya say?” After a few minutes of arguing discussion, the group agrees to stay. Veth curls up on her pile of moss, bones, and fur that has only grown bigger and softer over the last decade, and thumps her tail invitingly. Molly saunters over, draping himself over one of her hind legs. “Wow, it’s surprisingly comfortable, actually,” he calls over to the others.

They walk haltingly over, laying a varying distance away from Veth. Yeza takes his customary place between her front claws, and watches the group settle. Yes. He thinks they’re rough around the edges- still finding themselves, and their place in the world, but- they’ll be good for Veth. And, he thinks, Veth will be good for them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i might write their fight with the displacer beast/final thoughts on a dragon joining their group later, but for now, this is the end. yeza has already adopted them all, they just dont know it yet

**Author's Note:**

> -yeza is precious and small and veth loves him a lot.  
> -also he has never been accused of being an overly wise person


End file.
